I think Earth/Earth might be a bit safer, due to the extra soft control from the secondary, and due to power boost making your controls last a really long time. Earth/Fire will probably kill things quicker due to the extra damage from Embrace of Fire.
So, my thought is that Earth/Fire *may* be better, due to the fact that even without Power Boost and extra soft controls, Earth/Fire will have plenty of control anyway. So killing faster may be more important. Still, for those really hairy/scary survival moments, Earth/Earth will probably come in handy.
However, my Earth/Fire is level 43 but my Earth/Earth is level 2 right now. 
So I can' give an answer based on side-by-side experience ... yet. Working on it.
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
Power Boost will only really affect Stalagmites for an Earth controller. I'd go with Fire because it is an excellent ranged set. Not needing to get close to your foes to kill them quickly is rather useful when you are squishy.
The extra damage from Fiery Embrace means you can very quickly take down enemies, especially if you play the "pull them around a corner into a Quicksand/Earthquake" card, letting you FE -> Fire Breath and then take them out with your other blasts.
Anyone getting too close can be held and Incinerated.
IMO Earth/Fire and Fire/Earth are two perfectly complementary combinations, they work better that way compared to the more thematic Fire/Fire & Earth/Earth
Thanks for the responses guys, I think i'll give Earth/Fire a try.
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Forgot to say, of the choices you gave that's what I'd pick, but if I was going for a pure soloist Domi myself I'd probably end up picking Mind/(Energy or Fire).|
Originally Posted by Verren
Thanks for the responses guys, I think i'll give Earth/Fire a try.
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Earth is awesome on teams with all the AOE controls you get but isn't the strongest in terms of single target mezzes. Mind is the strongest domi set in terms of single target mez IMO.
Yeah, Earth is better for large team.
If you mostly solo, I would nominate Mind and Electricity control. Elec's static field makes soloing like a joke. Just put them to sleep and pick your favorite target and you can just save domination for final boss(es) if you want to be on the safe side.
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
I personally can't stand Mind Control with assault sets that do big AOE damage, though. I just need an every-fight hard control. By hard control, I mean that the foes cant wake or retaliate. So I consider AOE confuse, AOE stun, and AOE hold to be hard control of the type I'm talking about. Mind just doesn't have it. Maybe if you get massive recharge you could get Mass Confusion down to once a fight. But I just don't like the inability to prevent retaliation once I damage the foes, at least for using lots of AOE.
I think Mind is a beautiful set if you are going with something more single-targety, like Energy or Electric.
But I know that is an unpopular opinion. Lots of folks love their Mind Doms.
Lewis
Random AT Generation!
"I remember... the Alamo." -- Pee-wee Herman
"Oh don't worry. I always leave things to the last moment." -- The Doctor
"Telescopes are time machines." -- Carl Sagan
Quote:
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Originally Posted by UnicyclePeon
I personally can't stand Mind Control with assault sets that do big AOE damage, though. I just need an every-fight hard control. By hard control, I mean that the foes cant wake or retaliate. So I consider AOE confuse, AOE stun, and AOE hold to be hard control of the type I'm talking about. Mind just doesn't have it. Maybe if you get massive recharge you could get Mass Confusion down to once a fight. But I just don't like the inability to prevent retaliation once I damage the foes, at least for using lots of AOE.
I think Mind is a beautiful set if you are going with something more single-targety, like Energy or Electric. But I know that is an unpopular opinion. Lots of folks love their Mind Doms. Lewis |
Terrify is up every fight even with SO slotting. Yes, it is not complete hard control but it works pretty decently.
With Permadom status, you will always have either Mass Confuse or Total Domination up every fight.
::edit:: Btw, im not trying to say that Mind is all that much better then Earth for soloing. Yes, Mind gets alot of really useful solo powers, and earth is primarily AoE, but Earth gets a Pet, and a really good one at that.
I have a earth/earth dom lvl 46 and it is the best and i solo all the time +1 lvl +2 heroes.
After you get your pet it all easy. Great control and good damage. You do have to get in close to damage but you have the control power to lock them down.
"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." Alfred Pennyworth
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Fossilze is the greatest single hold power Imo. I can lock down AV's so they can't even move.|
Originally Posted by Carnifax_NA
Forgot to say, of the choices you gave that's what I'd pick, but if I was going for a pure soloist Domi myself I'd probably end up picking Mind/(Energy or Fire).
Earth is awesome on teams with all the AOE controls you get but isn't the strongest in terms of single target mezzes. Mind is the strongest domi set in terms of single target mez IMO. |
To each their own tho...I'm just glad there is love for the Doms out there.
"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." Alfred Pennyworth
Earth while generally performing best in a team due to the abundance of large aoe controls has more than enough to solo pretty much anything the game can throw at you.
Think of it this way. Earth is strong enough to control team sized spawns with just SO's. Team sized spawns are generally more difficult than solo spawns. The sentiment that earth doesn't excel while solo is probably a hold over from the days where you couldn't really increase spawn sizes, so you'd essentially be using a sledgehammer for every situation.
The solution is to just adjust your settings so you are facing more enemies, which earth has no problems dealing with.
Regarding secondary choice, fire assault is so much more damaging than earth assault. Like it isn't even close. Easily double the single target damage and probably 50% or more aoe damage assuming you have a semi decent build with hasten.
No one has mentioned app/ppp choices, but I'll just say that an earth/fire/fire can and will clear a mission set for x5-8 nearly twice as fast as a earth/earth/fire.
Personally I can't say I've found any solo (dev created) content to be overwhelming for my earth/fire to the point I wished I had additional secondary mitigation.
I think you'll enjoy your choice, it is a great pairing that mixes some of the best control and damage available to doms. The only combo I can think of that might excel more in that department is plant/fire, but even then I wouldn't say it is a clear victory as they are both powerhouses of control+damage.
Hi folks,
I was just wondering which Dom would be a better soloer, Earth/Earth or Earth/Fire and why, thanks!